Masi. Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery. Member for Inuvik Boot Lake.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize Mr. Chris Gargen, joining us here today from the constituency of Inuvik Boot Lake. I would also like to recognize, as I mentioned earlier, Sheila Kotchilea, who has been a very strong supporter, not only for my office, but for all Members and providing information to Members of the Legislative Assembly. I know she is going to continue to do great work. Ronna Sharegan, she has been a really great job. I know that you are going to have a good future in this House. As well as, of course, Judy McLeod, Hilda Camirand.
Just for the record, Mr. Speaker, this is my last day in the House. I would like to recognize a very special constituent who has done a lot of hard work for our territory, the NWT, nationally, internationally, regionally, local. That special constituent is, I am not going to say his middle name, Robert C. McLeod. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Recognition of Visitors in the Gallery. Member for Hay River South.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to recognize today in the House Marny Twigge and Heather Coakwell for their continued work with NWT Elections and the coming up elections. I would like to welcome Mrs. Trentor to the House today, as well. Nice to see you, Mrs. Trentor.
I didn't do any closing Minister's or Member's statement, but I want to take one second to thank everybody for the last four years. I think, most importantly for me, I want to thank the Premier. This has been a tough four years, and he's been a mentor to me, and he's done us an honour serving us for the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Premier.
---Applause
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Today my questions are for the Minister of ENR. Mr. Speaker, in the Nahendeh riding, in particular Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte, we've had some issues with the buffalo. The community has reached out and asked: what are we doing there? Can the Minister please provide us an update on what plans they have to help mitigate the problems that these animals are causing? Mahsi.
Masi. Minister of Environment and Natural Resources.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Bison normally come into the community. I was actually on a constituency tour with the Member a couple of winters ago, and there were actually bison right in the community. We work closely with the community of Fort Liard and Nahanni Butte to try to address this issue. In Liard, when bison come into the community, we try to herd them out by the local renewable resource officer, and we are considering a similar program in Nahanni Butte.
If bison do not leave and pose a public threat, they are removed by ENR or a community member with a bison tag. If the bison are removed, the meat is shared within the community for dry meat. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Minister advise: has the department's staff reached out to the leadership in both of these communities moving forward to try to address this issue?
We have worked with both communities to develop a Nahanni bison management plan. That was completed in August of this year, and I believe I may have tabled that a couple of days ago. That includes approaches to reduce bison-human conflicts. We've also provided a range of public information to promote awareness of wood bison in ways to avoid conflict.
When I've been talking to the residents in both those communities, they talked about the opportunity to maybe increase the number of tags for outside the region, not just the community. Has the department looked at that potential opportunity?
There are a number of options that our department needs to look at. I think we've heard from the Member from Mackenzie Delta about their programs with grizzly bears, and if we would consider the number of tags that are used or allocated. It is something else we would have to look at. In this particular area, we would have to look at it, the bear problem in the Beau-Del, as well. We need to take all these factors into consideration as we try and help alleviate the problem of animal-human conflict.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Nahendeh.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the Minister's answers. I have to give a big shout-out to his department, especially in Fort Liard and Fort Simpson. They do manage these areas here, and they're doing a great job, and they're communicating with the residents, and they're trying to address this issue locally, as well. Can the Minister advise if the department has reached out to the Department of Infrastructure to look at bordering the airports, putting fences around them, similar to what is done in Fort Providence?
We have worked with communities and MACA to fence off some key areas to keep bison out. I think one of the examples is in Fort Liard, and we will continue to work with the community of Nahanni Butte to explore options for fencing the Nahanni Butte airstrip again. Our departments will work closely with each other to try and find ways to help alleviate some of the problems that they're facing in the Nahendeh region with regard to bison, so we will continue to work on that and ensure that the public safety of the people is our first priority. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. My questions are for the Minister of Education, Culture and Employment. In my statement earlier today I mentioned the difficult relations between our government and the NWT francophone community over education. Can the Minister tell me how many applications for admissions by non-rights holders she has received under the 2016 directive, and how many were approved? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will have to take that question as notice. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. The question has been taken as notice. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Later today I will table information on costs of mini-hydro projects for the Tlicho communities of Whati, Gameti, and Wekweeti. I shared this information with the Minister of Infrastructure earlier today. These projects would allow each community to meet its energy needs, offset diesel for electricity, and could displace home heating oil while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of living. Is the Minister aware of these mini-hydro studies, and can he tell us whether the cost of these mini-hydro projects is comparable to the proposed Whati transmission line?
Masi. Minister of Infrastructure.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yes, I'm well aware of these projects. These were led by the Tlicho Government. Costing goes back as far as 2009, and these things would have to be re-costed to present-day costs to compare it to what the present line that we are proposing in our energy strategy to connect Whati, which we haven't defined, as we discussed in this House yesterday. I can't compare the costs.
I want to thank the Minister for that response. It's my understanding that the costs for some of those projects may actually go down with an all-weather road providing easier transportation. Can the Minister tell us whether there has been a comprehensive evaluation of energy options for the Tlicho communities that include mini-hydro, transmission lines from various sources, greenhouse gas reductions, and most importantly, perhaps, value for money?
I don't have that detail in front of me, but what I can tell you about this project is that, if we connect the transmission line to Whati, we're going to eliminate 475,000 litres of diesel fuel annually. We have to look at this situation. Maybe the Member is not well aware, but what he's not thinking about in the short term is joining this transmission line to the community of Whati. The long-term goal, if the Tlicho Government and the Government of the Northwest Territories decide to go ahead with the Lac La Martre project, which I would assume would be at some point for future growth and supply and help resiliency in the North Slave, the line would help look after that.
I want to thank the Minister for that information. Of course, we may be able to reduce or eliminate all the diesel for the three Tlicho communities for the same cost as building the line that the Minister put forward in the Infrastructure Acquisition Plan. Given that there hasn't been this evaluation of options, why are we proceeding with a transmission line?
I think I have to clarify here. Maybe the department has done it; I just said that I don't have that level of detail in front of me. We can certainly have a look and check with the department if they have done that cost analysis. As I have said, we believe in the short term to join the Whati to the Snare system through our transmission line, and once potential growth in the region and industrial development happens, the Whati would certainly feed into that growth and help stabilize the North Slave grid.
Masi. Oral questions. Member for Frame Lake.
Merci, Monsieur le President. Yesterday the Minister said that this Whati transmission line is about displacing diesel and "potential economic development in that region, and we will have to build in some capacity." All I am asking, Mr. Speaker, is that our government be open and transparent about the purpose of the Whati transmission line. Is this transmission line the best option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, who benefits, and does it deliver value for money? Can the Minister tell us whether there will be a contribution from Fortune Minerals, or is the Whati transmission line a subsidy for the proposed NICO mine? Mahsi, Mr. Speaker.
Clearly, what we have laid out in our 2030 Energy Strategy is how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the Northwest Territories. Part of that strategy is a T-line to Whati, no different than the T-line from Hay River to Fort Providence and Kakisa.
We will have to continue to look at ways to grow our economy in the Northwest Territories and, at the same time, honour our commitment to the Pan-Canadian Framework on Clean Growth. This is what we have come forward with. We went out and reached out to all of the communities when we did our Energy Strategy, and this is one of our plans going forward to be able to accommodate and meet our obligations. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Oral questions. Item 8, written questions. Item 9, returns to written questions. Colleagues, at this time, I am going to call for a short break.
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We left off after item 9. Item 10, replies to the Commissioner's opening address. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to move to item 11 on the orders of the day. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Unanimous consented granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to present a petition supporting the matter of a children's advocate. The petition contains 359 electronic signatures, including 31 electronic signatures of Northwest Territories residents. The petition's request is that the Government of the Northwest Territories create a children's advocate position with the Department of Health and Social Services, providing a voice for the decisions affecting children and giving direction in the best interest of children.
Further, Mr. Speaker, this petition was originated by Mr. Andy Young of Yellowknife, who is a foster parent. Mr. Young's petition is calling for the establishment of a children and youth advocate. The Child and Family Services Act is very clear that decisions regarding children must be made in accordance with the best interests of the children. This petition recognizes that there may be many reasons why decisions need to be made for our children's protection, but emphasizes that decisions need to place the best interests of children first.
As a foster parent, Mr. Young understands the difficult challenges that the department faces regarding children needing protection. Nevertheless, he has seen instances where decisions place the interests of the children second to other considerations. Such instances are confirmed in the 2018 Auditor General's Report on Child and Family Services, which states, in part, that the authorities did not meet key responsibilities for the protection and well-being of children, youth, and their families.
The department has now responded with its Quality Improvement Plan, which is a very detailed and ambitious document. However, the conclusions of the Auditor General report emphasize the need for oversight. To achieve that, this petition calls for the creation of a child and youth advocate for the NWT. The advocate would review departmental decisions affecting children and, if necessary, provide direction, ensuring that decisions reflect the best interests of the children.
Mr. Speaker, Mr. Young is committed to this issue, and I want to thank him for bringing this petition forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Masi. Petitions. Item 10, replies to the Commissioner's opening address. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I seek unanimous consent to return to item 7 on the Order Paper. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted
Mahsi, colleagues. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier as the Minister responsible for implementing the Cabinet policy on the naming of government buildings.
I will return now for a third time to the naming of the NOB, the new government building that is in downtown Yellowknife. The building opened in the summer of 2015. The naming process started in 2018, and in May of this year, the Premier reported that we had received many suggestions by public nomination. I am wondering when we can expect an announcement on the name for that new building and two others. Thank you.
Masi. The Honourable Premier.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As I updated the House earlier in one of the sessions, the Government of the Northwest Territories received a total of 89 nominations of names for three government office buildings located in Fort Simpson, Inuvik, and Yellowknife, and we expect to make the announcement shortly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Can the Premier tell us why there is a delay in making this announcement, given that the nominations have been in hand now for about three months?
We have received the recommendations from the NWT Honours Advisory Council, and I guess it's a process issue. Some of the names are in a special font; there's a special pronunciation which we don't know how to pronounce, or are difficult to pronounce, so we have to make sure we work out all of these details before we can make a public announcement.
Thank you to the Premier for that. When the announcement does come, will there be community events or activities planned to commemorate these new namings?
That would be my expectation. Whenever we open new buildings or commission new buildings, we have done that, and so I expect that would be the case, as well.
